Context is everything. If you were writing a biography about the man, using his full name would be appropriate. But if you were talking about his stance on an issue, it's completely unnecessary and obviously trying to forge a subconscious negative image of the President.

He doesn't go by his middle name. Some people want to evoke hatred of Muslims and his name is an obviously Muslim name. It would kinda be like if someone's last name was Kim and whenever we used their full name in a sentence then we referred to Kim Jong Un or Kim Jong Ill to remind everyone about those heathen, commie, tyrannical, mass-murdering Kims. Really unfair to the zillions of Kims who would never do such a thing, but there are worse things than being partisan. Like being partisan on the side of the Kims!

It comes off as partisan and trying to evoke fear of Muslims. Mostly because calling a president by his full name is rather rare. The only people that seem to do it with Obama are far right wingers and they also seem fond of writing his middle name in all caps.

Context is everything. If you were writing a biography about the man, using his full name would be appropriate. But if you were talking about his stance on an issue, it's completely unnecessary and obviously trying to forge a subconscious negative image of the President.

I agree with this. Only history will tell for certain, but I doubt that people will be referring to the current president as Barack H. Obama or BHO in the future.

I guess a good rule of thumb is whether the man himself prefers to use his middle name or initial. Obama never has, to my knowledge. GWB had a good reason to do so, because he had to differentiate himself from his father. But we've never had an Obama (or a Barack) in office before.

99% of the time? Abso-fucking-lutely! My middle name is shared with a Saint, a douchebag, and a bunch of kings, allowing for translations.

The only Presidents who have relevant full middle names that need to be mentioned are John Quincy Adams, George W. Bush, and their dads, as a disambiguation; William Henry Harrison, Taft, and any President where it would be weird not to use an initial as a general rule, like John F. Kennedy and Harry S. Truman. It's even worse when people say "Hussein did this or that."

Another right wing term for him I've seen is "Barry," because I guess he used that as his nickname for awhile. I don't know what the justification behind that is, like if it means he was hiding his "Muslim" heritage or what.

The only Presidents who have relevant full middle names that need to be mentioned are John Quincy Adams, George W. Bush, and their dads, as a disambiguation; William Henry Harrison, Taft, and any President where it would be weird not to use an initial as a general rule, like John F. Kennedy and Harry S. Truman. It's even worse when people say "Hussein did this or that."

I'd swap out Harry S. Truman for Ulysses S. Grant. I've always noticed that the number of sources that refer to him as Harry Truman were more numerous than Harry S. Truman.

99% of the time? Abso-fucking-lutely! My middle name is shared with a Saint, a douchebag, and a bunch of kings, allowing for translations.

The only Presidents who have relevant full middle names that need to be mentioned are John Quincy Adams, George W. Bush, and their dads, as a disambiguation; William Henry Harrison, Taft, and any President where it would be weird not to use an initial as a general rule, like John F. Kennedy and Harry S. Truman. It's even worse when people say "Hussein did this or that."

Another right wing term for him I've seen is "Barry," because I guess he used that as his nickname for awhile. I don't know what the justification behind that is, like if it means he was hiding his "Muslim" heritage or what.

Yep. The only compelling reason to use a president's middle name is to avoid confusion with someone else, or if he (or she) uses it themselves.

Another right wing term for him I've seen is "Barry," because I guess he used that as his nickname for awhile. I don't know what the justification behind that is, like if it means he was hiding his "Muslim" heritage or what.

"Barry" alone is probably just using a childhood nickname to diminish the Prez. However, "Barry Soetero" usually turns up among the he's-not-a-citizen brigade. It turns out that young Barack was indeed enrolled in at least one school in Indonesia under that name. Now, you and I would say that this was because Indonesia had looser standards about identity at that time, and it was just easier not to invite questions about why the little boy's last name wasn't the same as his mother's. But there are folks who insist it's because a) he was legally adopted by his step-father which b) stripped him of his US citizenship. The problem with this theory is a) there's no evidence he was ever legally adopted and b) it would make no difference to his citizenship if he was, because the citizenship laws don't work that way. And yet the conspiracy theory lives on.

__________________
An American flodnak in Oslo.
Do not open cover; no user serviceable parts inside.

Let's take the example of Curtis LeMay. His middle name is Emerson. There's no particular reason that I should ever bring up his middle name under normal circumstances. However, if there were a rumor that he was gay, and I wanted to subtly reinforce this concept, I might always use "Emerson" when referring to him, as it's not a strong short macho type name, and it is the last name of a poet. So clearly I have an agenda that I'm trying to reinforce by my particular word choice.

If I wanted to make the other side of the case, he'd always be "Bombs Away" LeMay.

Last edited by Attack from the 3rd dimension; 05-06-2012 at 05:48 AM..

It's fair to say that Rush Limbaugh probably doesn't frequently refer to the President as Barack Hussein Obama because he is a diligent journalist who wants to be as precise as possible all the time.

On a different note, I think that middle initials are often used to make a person's name sound more rhythmic, i. e. Harry S. Truman vs. Harry Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson vs. Lyndon Johnson or George W. Bush vs. George Bush.

They standard rule for journalists is that you use the form of the name and pronunciation the person prefers to use. If you use a different name, you are showing a lack of respect and a partisan bias.

__________________
"East is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does."Purveyor of fine science fiction since 1982.

But to a number of right-wingers it's become the equivalent of a bratty little brother in the back seat of the car holding his finger right next to his sister's ear saying, "I'm not touching you, I'm not touching you, I'm not touching you..."

"I'm not arguing that people with part of their name in common have to share the same political opinions -- that would be stupid. And I'm not saying that the president having a Muslim-sounding name means he's a bad person -- that would be racist. I'm just saying the president's full legal name: Barack Hussein Obama, Barack Hussein Obama, Barack Hussein Obama. Are you telling me I can't say the president's name? (Which is Barack Hussein Obama, by the way). Maybe other people might try to make some political point regarding the presidents name (arack-bay ussein-hay bama-oay), but I'm just saying it, so don't even try to rebut any political point you think I might be making, because I'm just saying a name. Barack Hussein Obama."

Agree with leahcim. When I see/hear someone refering to him as "Barack Hussein Obama" (in a non-formal context), my assumption is that that person is petty, and I don't have much regard for anything else they're saying.

The only Presidents who have relevant full middle names that need to be mentioned are John Quincy Adams, George W. Bush, and their dads, as a disambiguation; William Henry Harrison, Taft, and any President where it would be weird not to use an initial as a general rule, like John F. Kennedy and Harry S. Truman. It's even worse when people say "Hussein did this or that."

Truman is kind of a special case. S is his middle name, to honor both his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. Whether to put a period after the S is not entirely cut-and-dried, although his presidential library and the AP stylebook both do.

Agree with leahcim. When I see/hear someone refering to him as "Barack Hussein Obama" (in a non-formal context), my assumption is that that person is petty, and I don't have much regard for anything else they're saying.

On a different note, I think that middle initials are often used to make a person's name sound more rhythmic, i. e. Harry S. Truman vs. Harry Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson vs. Lyndon Johnson or George W. Bush vs. George Bush.

In Bush's case, it was originally to distingush him from his father, the first George Bush.

Truman is kind of a special case. S is his middle name, to honor both his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. Whether to put a period after the S is not entirely cut-and-dried, although his presidential library and the AP stylebook both do.

Yeah, I know, I had to check, and went with Wikipedia's style even though no-period is kind of more interesting.

And a more than a decade ago, he was "George Bush," but now it seems that "George H.W. Bush" is used more, at least non-casually.

Yeah, I know, I had to check, and went with Wikipedia's style even though no-period is kind of more interesting.

And a more than a decade ago, he was "George Bush," but now it seems that "George H.W. Bush" is used more, at least non-casually.

I've also heard him referred to as "#41", at least at Texas A&M where one of the schools and a library is named after him, complete with a diner called "The Forty-One". Fun guy if you ever get a chance to see him speak in person. Does a great H. Ross Perot impersonation (evidently the two are or used to be friends).

Yes, it's partisan in most contexts. He doesn't go by it, so unless you're writing a biography or something (as mentioned), it really shouldn't be used.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leahcim

"I'm not arguing that people with part of their name in common have to share the same political opinions -- that would be stupid. And I'm not saying that the president having a Muslim-sounding name means he's a bad person -- that would be racist. I'm just saying the president's full legal name: Barack Hussein Obama, Barack Hussein Obama, Barack Hussein Obama. Are you telling me I can't say the president's name? (Which is Barack Hussein Obama, by the way). Maybe other people might try to make some political point regarding the presidents name (arack-bay ussein-hay bama-oay), but I'm just saying it, so don't even try to rebut any political point you think I might be making, because I'm just saying a name. Barack Hussein Obama."

He doesn't go by his middle name. Some people want to evoke hatred of Muslims and his name is an obviously Muslim name. It would kinda be like if someone's last name was Kim and whenever we used their full name in a sentence then we referred to Kim Jong Un or Kim Jong Ill to remind everyone about those heathen, commie, tyrannical, mass-murdering Kims. Really unfair to the zillions of Kims who would never do such a thing, but there are worse things than being partisan. Like being partisan on the side of the Kims!

I don't think it's the fact that it's a Muslim name, I don't think Barack Aahil Obama would get nearly as much mileage. I think it's more the fact that it specifically draws similarity to one Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti.

It's interesting that my grandfather, my father and I all share the same first and last name and even with that the only times we ever used our middle names was when we were signing some sort of document where our identities might have been confused (like listing a beneficiary on an insurance policy or a will.)

So if Barack Obama isn't all that concerned about being confused with all the other Barack Obamas, I won't worry about it either.

Let's take the example of Curtis LeMay. His middle name is Emerson. There's no particular reason that I should ever bring up his middle name under normal circumstances. However, if there were a rumor that he was gay, and I wanted to subtly reinforce this concept, I might always use "Emerson" when referring to him, as it's not a strong short macho type name, and it is the last name of a poet. So clearly I have an agenda that I'm trying to reinforce by my particular word choice.

Not unless the word "Rod-ham" makes you giggle like a twelve-year old.

And I believe she herself uses it publicly. A very crappy analogy about this thread topic would be if you knew someone who had "Wayne" as a middle name, and you kept overemphasizing it to imply he was a serial killer.

Not unless the word "Rod-ham" makes you giggle like a twelve-year old.

And I believe she herself uses it publicly. A very crappy analogy about this thread topic would be if you knew someone who had "Wayne" as a middle name, and you kept overemphasizing it to imply he was a serial killer.

No, since she's chosen to go by that name at least some of the time. In fact I remember there were some polls in 2008 that indicated she polled better as Hillary Rodham Clinton than as Hillary Clinton, but her official campaign stuff tended to say Hillary Clinton.

I object to that characterization. Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin don't deserve to be called cunts. Cunts are beautiful, useful, pleasure-having and providing things. Ann and Michelle would be more fairly characterized as boils or hemorrhoids.

They standard rule for journalists is that you use the form of the name and pronunciation the person prefers to use. If you use a different name, you are showing a lack of respect and a partisan bias.

I remember during the recall election that replaced Gray Davis with Arnold Schwarzenegger, one Los Angeles radio station talk-show host insisted on referring to Davis as "Joe Davis." Since his formal given name is "Joseph Graham Davis," this could be taken as a sign of respect. But it wasn't... The same host next took to referring to him as "Gumby," making fun of the shape of his head and the cut of his hair.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DianaG

I object to that characterization. Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin don't deserve to be called cunts. Cunts are beautiful, useful, pleasure-having and providing things. Ann and Michelle would be more fairly characterized as boils or hemorrhoids.

Barack H. Obama isn't too bratty and it fits with John F Kennedy and George W. Bush.

There's nothing wrong with it, but there's also no reason to use it because that's not what he calls himself and it doesn't differentiate him from his father. The bottom line here is that he's never gone by his full name. It's absurd that it's become a partisan thing, but most of the time, it is: Republicans made it a partisan matter and Democrats reacted the way they usually do to this kind of silliness.